Transflective liquid crystal display device and color liquid crystal display device

ABSTRACT

A vertical alignment liquid crystal layer is sealed between a first substrate having a first electrode and a second substrate having a second electrode, each pixel region has a reflective region and a transmissive region, and a gap adjusting section is provided on one of sides of the first substrate and the second substrate which sets a thickness (gap) d of the liquid crystal layer which controls a phase difference of incident light to the liquid crystal layer so that a gap dr in the reflective region is smaller than a gap dt in the transmissive region. An alignment controller which divides alignment of the liquid crystal within a pixel region is provided in the pixel region on at least one of the sides of the first substrate and the second substrate. It is also possible to optimize by changing the gap in red, green, and blue.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/964,855, filed on Dec. 10, 2010, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/491,744,filed on Jun. 25, 2009, which is a continuation application Of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/132,767, filed on May 19, 2005, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by references. The Ser.No. 12/964,855 application, the Ser. No. 12/491,744, and the Ser. No.11/132,767 application claimed priority to the earlier filed JapanesePatent Application No. 2004-347905 filed Nov. 30, 2004, priority towhich is also claimed herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a transflective (semitransmissive)liquid crystal display device in which both a reflective region and atransmissive region are provided in each pixel.

2. Description of the Related Art

Because liquid crystal display (hereinafter simply referred to as “LCD”)devices have advantages such as thin thickness and low powerconsumption, the LCD devices are currently widely in use as a computermonitor and a monitor for a portable information device. In an LCD,liquid crystal is sealed between a pair of substrates and alignment ofthe liquid crystal positioned between the substrates is controlled byelectrodes formed on the substrates to realize a display. Unlike CRT(Cathode Ray Tube) display devices and electroluminescence (hereinaftersimply referred to as “EL”) display devices, fundamentally, the LCD isnot self-emissive, and, therefore, requires a light source fordisplaying an image for an observer.

In a transmissive LCD, a transparent electrode is employed as theelectrodes to be formed on the substrates, a light source is provided atthe back or side of a liquid crystal display panel and an amount oftransmission of light from the light source is controlled in the liquidcrystal panel to achieve a bright display even in a dark surroundings.However, because the light source is always being switched on to achievedisplay, power consumption by the light source is unavoidable, and,moreover, there is a disadvantage that sufficient contrast cannot besecured in an environment with intense ambient light such as outdoorsduring daytime.

In a reflective LCD, on the other hand, ambient light such as the sunand the indoor light is used as the light source. The ambient lightentering the liquid crystal panel is reflected by a reflective electrodeformed on a substrate on a side of a non-observation surface. A displayis realized by controlling, for each pixel, the amount of emission lightfrom the liquid crystal panel of the light which enters the liquidcrystal layer and is reflected by the reflective electrode. Because thereflective LCD uses the ambient light as the light source, no power isconsumed by the light source unlike the transmissive LCD and,consequently, has a very low power consumption. The reflective LCD has acharacteristic that a sufficient contrast can be obtained when theenvironment is bright such as the outdoors, but the display cannot beviewed when there is no ambient light.

Recently, a transflective (semitransmissive) LCD has been proposed andattracted much attention as a display that can easily be seen outdoorsand also in a dark environment. The transflective LCD has both areflective function and a transmissive function as shown in, forexample, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 11-101992 andJapanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-255399. In atransflective LCD, a transmissive region and a reflective region areprovided within a pixel region to obtain both the transmissive functionand the reflective function.

Because the transflective LCDs have superior visibility both outdoorsand under dark environment, the use of the transflective LCD as adisplay, for example, of a portable information device is veryeffective.

However, in a portable information device, various viewing conditionscan be considered, and the viewing angle must be widened in order toachieve display of high quality in any of the various viewing conditions(in particular, various viewing angles).

In addition, in a transflective LCD, because the semi-transmissivity isachieved by dividing a pixel into a transmissive region and a reflectiveregion, the transmission characteristic and the reflectioncharacteristic are lower than that in the transmissive LCD and that inthe reflective LCD, respectively. Therefore, in order to improve thedisplay quality in each display region (transmissive region andreflective region), it is necessary to achieve a higher contrast in bothregions.

However, in the field of transflective LCDs, efforts have been devotedfor improving a structure for realizing both a transmissive mechanismand the reflective mechanism in one structure, and attempts have notbeen made for improvement in the display quality such as widening of theviewing angle and improvement of the contrast.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention advantageously provides a transflective LCD and acolor LCD with a high display quality.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided atransflective LCD comprising a plurality of pixels, and a verticalalignment liquid crystal layer which is sealed between a first substratehaving a first electrode and a second substrate having a secondelectrode, wherein each pixel region comprises a reflective region and atransmissive region, the reflective region comprises a gap adjustingsection, on at least one of sides of the first substrate and the secondsubstrate, which sets a gap defined by a thickness of the liquid crystallayer which controls a phase difference of light incident on the liquidcrystal layer so that the gap is smaller in the reflective region thanin the transmissive region, and the pixel region comprises an alignmentcontroller which divides an alignment direction of the liquid crystalwithin the pixel region on at least one of the sides of the firstsubstrate and the second substrate.

In this manner, by using a vertical alignment liquid crystal layer in atransflective LCD, the responsiveness can be improved compared to, forexample, well-known TN (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal and a display ofa high contrast can be realized. In addition, in vertical alignmentliquid crystal, the alignment of the liquid crystal is controlled to bein parallel or perpendicular to a plane of the substrate as opposed tothe TN liquid crystal or the like in which a pre-tilt is applied and thealignment is controlled. Because of this structure, the viewing angledependency is fundamentally low and the viewing angle can be widenedcompared to TN liquid crystal. In addition, in the present invention, analignment controller for dividing the alignment direction of the liquidcrystal within a pixel region is provided within a pixel region, evenwhen the LCD is observed from various angles, a possibility that theobservation position is within an optimum range of viewing angles of thevarious divided regions is high, and thus, it is possible to furtherwiden the viewing angle of the pixel. Therefore, even when theenvironment is dark or bright, it is possible to realize a display whichis highly responsive, has a wide viewing angle, and has a high contrastratio.

Even in a simple calculation, it can be seen that a total optical pathlength within the liquid crystal layer differs in the reflective regionin which the incident light is transmitted through the liquid crystallayer twice and in the transmissive region in which the incident lightis transmitted only once. By providing a gap adjusting section within apixel region, an optimum thickness of the liquid crystal layer (cellgap) can be obtained in the reflective region and in the transmissiveregion. Therefore, coloring does not occur in the reflective region orin the transmissive region and an optimum reflectivity andtransmissivity can be achieved. Therefore, it is possible to achieve adisplay which is bright and has a superior color reproducibility.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, the alignment controller comprises anelectrode absent section which is formed in at least one of the firstelectrode and the second electrode.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, the alignment controller comprises aprojection which projects toward the liquid crystal layer from at leastone of the sides of the first substrate and the second substrate.Alternatively, both the electrode absent section and the projection maybe provided in a pixel region as the alignment controller.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, an end surface of the gap adjustingsection in the pixel region functions as the alignment controller.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, an angular difference between analignment direction of the liquid crystal controlled by the alignmentcontroller in the pixel region and an alignment direction of the liquidcrystal controlled by another alignment controller having a projectionline which intersects a projection line of the alignment controller ontoa plane of the substrate is less than 90 degrees.

By achieving an angular difference of less than 90 degrees, it ispossible to reliably prevent problems such as generation of asperity indisplay due to generation of a disclination line (boundary of regionshaving different alignment directions) in an uncertain position within apixel divided by the alignment controller.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, the plurality of pixels include a pixelfor red, a pixel for green, and a pixel for blue, and the gap in atleast one of the transmissive region and the reflective region of eachpixel of at least one of the pixel for red, pixel for green, and pixelfor blue differs from the gap in the pixels of other colors.

In the pixels for red, green, and blue, transmittances of light havingdifferent colors (R, G, and B), that is, different wavelengths, arecontrolled by the liquid crystal layer. Therefore, the optimum gap(thickness of the liquid crystal layer) may differ from each otherdepending on the wavelengths to be transmitted. In such a case, bychanging the gap of R, G, or B pixel to be different from the gap of theother colors, it is possible to easily obtain a full-color LCD having alow wavelength dependency and a superior color reproducibility. Inaddition, because the wavelength dependency can be reduced, identicaldriving conditions can be used for each pixel, allowing for reduction inprocessing load of the driver circuit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, a quarter wavelength plate and a halfwavelength plate are provided on the first substrate and the secondsubstrate.

By providing both a quarter wavelength plate and a half wavelengthplate, combining the wavelength plates with a linear polarizer plate,and using the combined structure as a wide wavelength band circularpolarizer plate, it is possible to more reliably obtain requiredcircular polarization for the vertical alignment liquid crystal layerfor all of the R, G, and B light having different wavelengths, allowingfor a further reduction of the wavelength dependency of the LCD.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, of the first substrate and the secondsubstrate, a substrate opposing a substrate which is placed near a lightsource comprises a phase difference plate having a negative refractiveindex anisotropy.

By providing a phase difference plate (negative retarder) having anegative refractive index anisotropy (optical anisotropy), it ispossible to apply optical compensation for the vertical alignment liquidcrystal layer (liquid crystal cell), allowing for a further widening ofthe viewing angle of the LCD.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, a biaxial phase difference plate isprovide on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate.By using the biaxial phase difference plate, it is possible to realize,with one phase difference plate, the functions of, for example, acombination of the negative retarder and the quarter wavelength plateand the negative retarder and the half wavelength plate, to reduce thethickness and to minimize the optical loss.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is preferablethat, in the transflective LCD, a plurality of the first electrodes areformed on the side of the first substrate each in an individual patternfor each pixel, a thin film transistor is connected to each of theplurality of first electrodes, the second electrode formed on the sideof the second substrate is formed as a common electrode which is commonto the plurality of pixels, and the gap adjusting section is formed onthe side of the second substrate.

By forming the gap adjusting section on the side of the secondsubstrate, it is possible to form the first substrate side through stepsthat are common for the plurality of pixels even when a thin filmtransistor is to be formed on the first substrate side. Thus, it ispossible to form the gap adjusting section on the side of the secondsubstrate having a simpler structure than the first substratesimultaneously with the manufacturing of the first substrate havingalong total manufacturing time because the first substrate has a largernumber of elements, allowing for improvement in the manufacturingefficiency.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda transflective liquid crystal display device comprising a plurality ofpixels, and vertical alignment liquid crystal which is sealed between afirst substrate having a first electrode and a second substrate having asecond electrode, wherein each pixel region comprises a reflectiveregion and a transmissive region, a gap adjusting section which sets agap defined by a thickness of the liquid crystal layer which controls aphase difference of light incident on the liquid crystal layer to besmaller in the reflective region than that in the transmissive region isprovided on at least one of sides of the first substrate and the secondsubstrate, and a side surface of the gap adjusting layer has a forwardtapered shape in which the width increases toward the substrate on whichthe gap adjusting layer is formed.

In this manner, by employing a forward tapered shape in the side surfaceof the gap adjusting layer, it is possible to prevent disturbance in thealignment of the liquid crystal at the side surface and to use the sidesurface as an inclined surface for controlling the alignment.

As described, in the present invention, the viewing angle can be widenedand the contrast and the response speed can be improved in atransflective LCD, allowing for realization of an LCD having a highdisplay quality.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda vertical alignment liquid crystal display device having pixels forred, green, and blue for displaying three primary colors of red, green,and blue, the vertical alignment liquid crystal display devicecomprising a first substrate on which a pixel electrode is formed foreach pixel, a second substrate which is placed opposing the firstsubstrate and which has a common electrode, liquid crystal which issealed between the first substrate and the second substrate and whichhas a negative dielectric constant anisotropy, a red color filter layer,a green color filter layer, and a blue color filter layer which areplaced on the second substrate corresponding to the pixels for red,green, and blue, a first vertical alignment film which is formedcovering the pixel electrode, and a second vertical alignment film whichis formed closer to the liquid crystal than are the common electrode,the red color filter layer, the green color filter layer, and the bluecolor filter layer, wherein a condition of D-blue≧D-green>D-red issatisfied wherein D-red is a thickness of the red color filter layer,D-green is a thickness of the green color filter layer, and D-blue is athickness of the blue color filter layer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda vertical alignment liquid crystal display device having pixels forred, green, and blue for displaying three primary colors of red, green,and blue, the vertical alignment liquid crystal display devicecomprising a first substrate on which a pixel electrode is formed foreach pixel, a second substrate which is placed opposing the firstsubstrate and which has a common electrode, liquid crystal which issealed between the first substrate and the second substrate and whichhas a negative dielectric constant anisotropy, a red color filter layer,a green color filter layer, and a blue color filter layer which areplaced on the second substrate corresponding to the pixels for red,green, and blue, a gap layer which is selectively formed on the greencolor filter layer and the blue color filter layer, a first verticalalignment film which is formed covering the pixel electrode, and asecond vertical alignment film which is formed closer to the liquidcrystal than are the common electrode, the red color filter layer, thegreen color filter layer, the blue color filter layer, and the gaplayer.

By employing such a relationship and a structure, it is possible torealize a display of low power consumption and without coloring for anyof three primary colors of red, green, and blue, in a color verticalalignment liquid crystal display device having pixels for displayingred, green, and blue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail based on the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a cross sectional structure ofa vertical alignment transflective LCD according to a first preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing another cross sectionalstructure of a vertical alignment transflective LCD according to a firstpreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically and more specifically showing a planarstructure of a transflective LCD according to a first preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a cross sectional structure ofa transflective LCD along the A-A′ line of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a cross sectional structure ofa transflective LCD along the B-B′ line of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross sectional diagram showing a structure of apixel electrode and a TFT connected to the pixel electrode in atransflective LCD of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a planar structure of atransflective LCD which differs from the structure of FIG. 3 accordingto a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a cross sectional structure ofa transflective LCD along the C-C′ line of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a planar structure of atransflective LCD according to an alternative configuration of thepreferred embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a planar structure of atransflective LCD according to another alternative configuration of thepreferred embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a relationship between the applied voltageand transmittance characteristic for various cell structures in avertical alignment transflective LCD according to a first preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a wavelength dependency of a relationshipbetween a transmittance characteristic and the applied voltage in avertical alignment transflective LCD according to a first preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a wavelength dependency of a relationshipbetween a transmittance characteristic and an applied voltage when thecell gap is adjusted for red, green, and blue in a vertical alignmenttransflective LCD according to a first preferred embodiment of thepresent invention:

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a chromaticity coordinate showing adependency of chromaticity on an applied voltage in a vertical alignmenttransflective LCD according to a first preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a chromaticity coordinate showing adependency of a chromaticity on an applied voltage when the cell gap isadjusted for red, green, and blue in a vertical alignment transflectiveLCD according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a cross sectional diagram of a vertical alignment liquidcrystal display device according to a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 17A, 17B, and 17C are diagrams showing V-T characteristics forvarious cell gaps for pixels for red, green, and blue;

FIG. 18 is a cross sectional diagram showing a vertical alignment liquidcrystal display device according to a third preferred embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C are diagrams showing V-T characteristics forvarious cell gaps for pixels for red, green, and blue.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments (hereinafter simply referred to as “embodiments”)of the present invention will now be described referring to thedrawings.

First Preferred Embodiment

FIG. 1 schematically shows a cross sectional structure of atransflective active matrix LCD which is used as the transflective LCDaccording to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Thetransflective LCD according to the first preferred embodiment comprisesa plurality of pixels, wherein a first substrate and a second substrateon which a first electrode 200 and a second electrode 320 are formedrespectively on a side opposing each other are adhered to each otherwith a liquid crystal layer 400 therebetween, and a transmissive region210 and a reflective region 220 are formed in each pixel region.

A vertical alignment liquid crystal having a negative dielectricconstant anisotropy is used as the liquid crystal layer 400 and analignment controller 500 (alignment divider) for dividing a pixel regioninto a plurality of alignment regions is provided on the side of thesecond substrate or on the side of the first substrate. As shown in FIG.1, the alignment controller 500 comprises, for example, a projection 510which projects toward the liquid crystal layer 400, an inclined section520, and an electrode absent section which is formed in FIG. 1 by a gapbetween pixel electrodes 200 (details will be described later).

A transparent substrate such as glass is used for the first substrate100 and the second substrate 300. On the side of the first substrate100, a pixel electrode 200 in which a transparent conductive metal oxidesuch as an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) and IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide) is used isformed in an individual pattern for each pixel as a first electrode anda switching element (not shown; refer to a description of FIG. 5 to bedescribed later) such as a thin film transistor which is connected tothe pixel electrode 200 is formed. Over the entire surface of the firstsubstrate 100, an alignment film 260 for vertical alignment is formedover the pixel electrode 200. As the alignment film 260, for example,polyimide or the like is used, and, in the present embodiment, arubbingless type alignment film is used so that the initial alignment ofthe liquid crystal (alignment when no voltage is applied) is set to beperpendicular (vertical) to the plane direction of the film. With astructure shown in FIG. 5 (details to be described later), a transparentregion 210 which is made solely of the transparent electrode and areflective region 220 in which a reflective film or a reflectiveelectrode which is layered to the transparent electrode is formed can beprovided in a formation region of one pixel electrode 200.

On the second substrate 300 which is adhered to the first substrate 100with the liquid crystal layer 400 therebetween, a red color filter 330r, a green color filter 330 g, and a blue color filter 330 b are formedon a surface facing the liquid crystal at predetermined correspondingpositions. In a gap between the color filters 330 r, 330 g, and 330 b(gap between pixel regions), a light shielding layer (in the embodiment,a black color filter) 330BM for preventing leak of light between pixelsis provided.

A gap adjusting section 340 made of an optically transmissive materialis formed on the color filters 330 r, 330 g, and 330 b in order to setthe thickness (cell gap) dr of the liquid crystal layer in the region ofthe pixel opposing the reflective region 220 to be smaller than thethickness (cell gap) dt of the liquid crystal layer in the transmissiveregion 210 (that is, dr<dt). The thickness of the gap adjusting section340 corresponds to a case in which the thickness d of the liquid crystallayer required for obtaining optimum transmittance and optimumreflectance in the transmissive region 210 in which the incident lightis transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 400 once and in thereflective region 220 in which the incident light is transmitted throughthe liquid crystal layer 400 twice differs from each other. Thus, forexample, a thickness d of the liquid crystal layer is determined toobtain an optimum transmittance in the transmissive region 210 in whichno gap adjusting section 340 is provided and a gap adjusting section 340having a desired thickness is formed in the reflective region 220 toobtain a thickness d of the liquid crystal layer which is smaller thanthat in the transmissive region 210.

An electrode 320 common to the plurality of pixels (common electrode) isformed as a second electrode covering the entire surface of the secondsubstrate 300 including the gap adjusting section 340. Similar to thepixel electrode 200, a transparent conductive metal oxide such as ITOand IZO can be used to form the common electrode 320.

In the present embodiment, a projection 510 is formed above the commonelectrode 300 as the alignment controller 500 for dividing the alignmentdirection of the liquid crystal within a pixel region to form aplurality of region having different alignment directions. Theprojection 510 projects toward the liquid crystal layer 400 and may beconductive or insulating. In the present embodiment, an acrylic resin,for example, which is insulating can be used and formed into a desiredpattern. In addition, the projection 510 is formed both in thetransmissive region 210 and the reflective region 220 within each pixelregion.

An alignment film 260 which is of vertical alignment type similar to thealignment film on the first substrate side and which is rubbingless isformed covering the projection 510 and the common electrode 320. Asdescribed, the alignment film 260 aligns the liquid crystal along adirection perpendicular to the planar direction of the film. Inpositions covering the projection 510, an inclined surface reflectingthe shape of the projection 510 is formed, and, therefore, in theformation positions of the projection 510, the liquid crystal is alignedalong a direction perpendicular to the inclined surface of the alignmentfilm 260 covering the projection 510, and, thus, the alignment directionof the liquid crystal is divided with the boundary at the projection510. In addition, in the present embodiment, a side surface of the gapadjusting section 340 provided on the side of the second substrate isformed in a tapered shape so that an inclined surface is formed on thealignment film 260 covering above the gap adjusting section 340reflecting the inclined surface of the gap adjusting section 340. Inthis inclined surface also, the liquid crystal is controlled in adirection perpendicular to the inclined surface and the inclined surfaceof the gap adjusting layer 340 also functions as the alignmentcontroller 500.

In the transflective LCD shown in FIG. 1, a linear polarizer plate(first polarizer plate) 112 and a wide wavelength band quarterwavelength (λ/4) plate (first phase difference plate) 111 made of acombination of a quarter wavelength (λ/4) phase difference plate and ahalf wavelength (λ/2) phase difference plate are provided on theexternal side (side facing a light source 600) of the first substrate sothat a wide wavelength band circular polarizer plate 110 is formed bythe linear polarizer plate 112 and the phase difference plate 111.

On the external side (viewing side) of the second substrate 300, a phasedifference plate 310 having a negative refractive index anisotropy isprovided as an optical compensation plate, and a wide wavelength bandquarter wavelength (λ/4) plate (second phase difference plate) 111 madeof a combination of a quarter wavelength (λ/4) plate and a halfwavelength (λ/2) plate and a linear polarizer plate (second polarizerplate) 112 are provided so that a wide band circular polarizer plate 110is formed by the linear polarizer plate 112 and the phase differenceplate 111, similar to the structure on the first substrate side. Thepositional relationship among the optical members is, for example, asshown in the lower section of FIG. 1, in which an axis of the firstpolarizer plate is placed at 45 degrees, a phase delaying axis of thefirst quarter wavelength (λ/4) plate is placed at 90 degrees, a phasedelaying axis of the second quarter wavelength (λ/4) plate is placed at180 degrees, and an axis of the second polarizer plate is placed at 135degrees.

Light emitted from the light source 600 transmits through the linearpolarizer plate 112 on the side of the first substrate 100 and becomeslinearly polarized light in a direction along the polarization axis ofthe polarizer plate 112. The light then becomes circularly polarizedlight when the phase difference is shifted by λ/4 in the first quarterwavelength (λ/4) plate 111. In the present embodiment, in order toreliably obtain circular polarization for any of the R, G, and Bcomponents at least having different wavelengths to increase the usageefficiency (transmittance) of light in the liquid crystal cell, both aquarter wavelength (λ/4) phase plate and a half wavelength (λ/2) phaseplate are used to form the wide wavelength band quarter wavelength (λ/4)plate 111. The obtained circularly polarized light transmits through thepixel electrode 200 in the transmissive region 210 and enters the liquidcrystal layer 400.

In the transflective LCD according to the present embodiment, verticalalignment liquid crystal having a negative dielectric constantanisotropy (Δ∈<0) is used in the liquid crystal layer 400 and thealignment film 260 of a vertical alignment type is used.

Therefore, in a state in which no voltage is applied, the liquid crystalis aligned along a direction perpendicular to the planar direction ofthe alignment film 260, and, as the applied voltage increases, thedirection of the major axis of the liquid crystal is tilted to beperpendicular to an electric field formed between the pixel electrode200 and the common electrode 320 (parallel to the planar direction ofthe substrate). When no voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer400, the polarization state is not changed in the liquid crystal layer400, the circularly polarized light reaches the second substrate 300,the circular polarization is removed by the second quarter wavelength(λ/4) plate 111, and the light becomes linearly polarized light. Becausethe second polarizer plate 112 is placed perpendicular to the directionof the linear polarization from the second quarter wavelength (λ/4)plate 111, the linearly polarized light cannot transmit through thesecond polarizer plate 112 having a transmission axis (polarizationaxis) which is perpendicular to that of the first polarizer plate 112,and, thus, the display becomes black.

When a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer 400, the liquidcrystal layer 400 creates a phase difference with respect to theincident circularly polarized light to change the polarization, forexample, to circular polarization of opposite revolution, an ellipticalpolarization, and linear polarization. Then, the second quarterwavelength (λ/4) plate 111 shifts the obtained light by a phase of λ/4so that the polarization becomes linear polarization (parallel to thetransmission axis of the second polarizer plate), ellipticalpolarization, and circular polarization. Because these polarizationseach has a component along the polarization axis of the second polarizerplate 112, light of an amount corresponding to the component is emittedthrough the second polarizer plate 112 toward the viewing side and isrecognized as the display (white or grayscale).

The phase difference plate 310 is a negative retarder which can improvethe optical characteristic when the LCD is seen from a tilted angle andcan improve the viewing angle. Alternatively, it is also possible toemploy a biaxial phase difference plate having both functions of thenegative retarder (310) and the quarter wavelength (λ/4) plate 111 inplace of the negative retarder 310 and the quarter wavelength (λ/4)plate 111. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce thethickness of the LCD and to improve the transmittance.

In the present embodiment, with the gap adjusting section 340 asdescribed above, the thickness (cell gap) d of the liquid crystal layer400 which substantially controls the transmittance of light is set todifferent desired gaps in the transmissive region 210 and the reflectiveregion 220. A primary reason for employing this structure is that thenumbers of transmission of light through the liquid crystal layer differbetween the transmissive region 210 and in the reflective region 220because in the transmissive region 210, display is realized bycontrolling an amount (transmittance) of light transmitted from thelight source 600 provided on the backside of the LCD (on the side of thefirst substrate 100 in the illustrated example of FIG. 1) through theliquid crystal layer 400 and emitted from the side of the secondsubstrate 300 to the outside, whereas in the reflective region 220, thedisplay is realized by controlling an amount (reflectance of the LCD) oflight incident from the viewing side of the LCD on the liquid crystallayer 400, reflected by a reflective film formed in the formation regionof the pixel electrode 200, transmitted through the liquid crystal layer400 again, and emitted to the viewing side from the side of the secondsubstrate 300. In other words, in the reflective region 220, the lighttransmits through the liquid crystal layer 400 twice, and, therefore,the cell gap dr of the reflective region 220 must be set to a smallervalue than the cell gap dt of the transmissive region 210. In thepresent embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the gap adjusting section 340having a desired thickness is provided only in the reflective region 220of each pixel in order to achieve the relationship of dr<dt. A materialof the gap adjusting section 340 is not limited as long as the gapadjusting section 340 transmits light and can be formed in a desiredthickness, and, for example, an acrylic resin or the like which is usedalso as a planarizing insulating layer may be used.

When the side surface of the gap adjusting section 340 is used as a partof the alignment controller 500 (inclined section 520) as described, thetaper angle of the side surface of the gap adjusting section 340 must beless than 90 degrees with respect to the plane of the substrate. Whenthe taper angle is 90 degrees or higher, the alignment of the liquidcrystal is disturbed at the side surface of the gap adjusting section340, and the coverage of the common electrode 320 and the alignment film260 formed above the gap adjusting section 340 becomes insufficient. Inaddition, the side surface of the gap adjusting section 340 does notcontribute to display itself. When the taper angle is too small, thearea of the side surface of the gap adjusting section 340 becomes large,resulting in a reduction of the aperture ratio of the pixel, inparticular, the aperture ratio of the reflective region in which afurther improvement in the brightness is desired. Therefore, the taperangle of the side surface of the gap adjusting section 340 is preferablyat an angle which does not reduce the coverage of the second electrode320 and the alignment film 260 at the upper layers, which can divide thealignment of the liquid crystal, and which has a small reduction of theaperture ratio. Specifically, the taper angle is preferably within arange of 30 degrees-80 degrees.

As the gap adjusting section 340 having an inclined section 520 with ataper angle in such a range, it is possible to use, for example, theacrylic resin as described above, with a photosensitive agent. Byadjusting the amount of polymerization starter and opticallypolymerizing monomer to be added to the acrylic resin as the gapadjusting material corresponding to the manufacturing conditions andcharacteristics of the exposure device, it is possible to obtain anarbitrary forward taper angle. As an alternative method of obtaining aforward tapered side surface for the gap adjusting section 340 otherthan the method of adjusting the amount of contained material, it isalso possible to, for example, use optical polymerization inhibitingeffect by oxygen present in the surroundings, enlargement of a patternby diffraction of light during the exposure, melt flow by resin baking,etc., or a combination of these methods, to obtain a forward taper of adesired angle.

The optical polymerization inhibiting effect is obtained by oxygen inthe atmosphere near the surface of the gap adjusting section 340. Incontrast, at the side of the substrate away from the surface, the amountof oxygen is small, and, thus, polymerization is not inhibited and ahardening process proceeds. Therefore, the side of the surface of theplanarizing insulating layer 38 is easier to be removed duringdevelopment, resulting in a forward taper having a narrower width as thedistance from the substrate increases.

The diffraction of light at the exposure depends on the exposure device.In a proximity exposure device, for example, the fact that thediffraction is large is utilized to form a taper in the gap adjustingsection 340 by a region in which the gap adjusting section is formed anda region in which the gap adjusting section is removed.

In the melt flow, after the development, the gap adjusting section 340is baked, for example, at a temperature of 80° C.-180° C. for 1 min. to20 min. (for example, 120° C. and 8 min.) to melt the upper surface andside surface of the gap adjusting section 340 so that the surface issmoothened and a forward taper is formed by the side surface beingmelted and a shape change depending on the surface tension of thematerial.

As an organic material used in the gap adjusting section, materials areknown which show sensitivity to a g ray (436 nm), h ray (405 nm), and iray (248 nm) of an exposure light source. Many of organic materialsshowing sensitivity to the i ray result in a taper angle of 90 degreesor higher (reverse taper). In consideration of this, in the presentembodiment, an acrylic resin having a sensitivity to the g ray and h rayand which tends to result in a forward taper is used as the material ofthe gap adjusting section.

In addition to changing the thickness d of the liquid crystal layerbetween the transmissive region 210 and the reflective region 220 in apixel region, in the present embodiment, the thickness d of the liquidcrystal layer is changed among the pixels for R, G, and B havingdifferent wavelengths (however, a common gap may be employed for red,green, and blue depending on the characteristics of the LCD). In theillustrated structure of FIG. 1, the gap for all of red, green, and blueis realized by changing the thicknesses of the red color filter 330 r,green color filter 330 g, and blue color filter 330 b which are formedon the side of the second substrate 300. The present embodiment is notlimited to a structure in which the thickness of the color filter ischanged, and it is also possible to provide the gap adjusting section340 also in the transmissive region 210 with the thickness of the gapadjusting section 340 being different in the transmissive region 210 andreflective region 220 for red, green, and blue. The present invention isnot limited to a structure in which the thickness d of the liquidcrystal layer in all of red, green, and blue differs from each other,and it is also possible to employ a configuration, for example, in whichthe green and blue pixels have the same thickness of the liquid crystallayer and only the red pixel has a different thickness, or aconfiguration in which only the blue pixel has a different thickness d,depending on the characteristics of the LCD.

FIG. 2 shows another structure for obtaining a different gap amongpixels for red, green, and blue (in the description of FIG. 2, thestructures common to those in FIG. 1 will not be described again). Inthe structure of FIG. 2, the gaps for red, green, and blue are notchanged at the second substrate side, but rather, the thickness of theplanarizing insulating layer 38 which is formed below the pixelelectrode 200 is adjusted for red, green, and blue at the side of thefirst substrate 100. As a method for changing the thickness of theplanarizing insulating layer 38, for example, it is possible to form theplanarizing insulating layer 38 with different thicknesses for pixelsfor red, green, and blue without adding an extra step by exposing aplanarizing insulating material containing a photosensitive materialusing one or a plurality of half-exposure mask having an amount ofopening corresponding to the target thickness. In FIG. 2, projectionsand depressions are formed on the surface of the planarizing insulatinglayer 38 in the reflective region. The projections and depressions onthe surface of the planarizing insulating layer 38 can be transferred tothe reflective layer 44 formed on the planarizing insulating layer 38 inthe reflective region so that projections and depressions are created onthe surface of the reflective layer 44 to scatter the light incident onthe liquid crystal layer to improve the display quality in thereflective region. Similar to the above-described process to obtaindifferent thicknesses of planarizing insulating layer 38 in red, green,and blue, it is possible to employ the half-exposure to form theprojections and depressions on the planarizing insulating layer 38 inthe reflective region and a contact hole to be formed through theplanarizing insulating layer 38 for connecting the pixel electrode 200and the TFT simultaneously with formation of the planarizing insulatinglayer 38 without adding a step.

Next, a more specific structure of each pixel of the transflective LCDaccording to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3schematically shows an example planar structure of a transflective LCDaccording to the present embodiment, FIG. 4 schematically shows a crosssectional structure along the A-A′ line of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 schematicallyshows a cross sectional structure along the B-B′ line of FIG. 3, andFIG. 6 shows a more specific structure of the pixel electrode 200 andthe thin film transistor or the like connected to the pixel electrode200 of FIG. 3.

In the planar structure shown in FIG. 3, a pixel electrode 200 formed inan individual pattern for each pixel has a hexagonal pattern elongatedalong the vertical scan direction of the screen (vertical direction inFIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 3, a reflective film is selectively formed ina quadrangular (in FIG. 3, rhombus-shaped or square-shaped) regionsurrounded by diagonal lines including two upper sides in thelongitudinal direction to form a reflective region 220. The remainingregion of the hexagonal pixel electrode 200 having a chevron shape formsthe transmissive region 210.

As is clear from FIG. 4, in the reflective region 220, a gap adjustinglayer 340 is formed above the second substrate 300, above the commonelectrode 320 in FIG. 4, in order to set the thickness (cell gap) dr ofthe liquid crystal layer to be smaller than the gap dt in thetransmissive region 210.

An end of the gap adjusting layer 340 within a pixel is placed at aposition along two lower sides of the quadrangular reflective region 220which are almost linearly symmetrical with the two upper sides of thehexagonal pixel electrode 200. In addition, a projection 510 r having atriangular cross section is formed connecting vertices of thequadrangular reflective region 220 opposing along the horizontal scandirection (horizontal direction in FIG. 3) and above the secondsubstrate 300 (more specifically, above the gap adjusting section 340 inFIG. 4) to divide the reflective region 220 into an upper region and alower region along the horizontal scan direction.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, an entire surface of the second substrate300 including the projection 510 and the gap adjusting section 340 iscovered by a vertical alignment film 260 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Inaddition, a vertical alignment film 260 is formed over the entiresurface of the first substrate 100 including the pixel electrode 200 asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Therefore, when no voltage is applied betweenthe pixel electrode 200 and the common electrode 320, a major axisdirection 410 of the liquid crystal (liquid crystal director) is alignedperpendicular to the planar direction of the vertical alignment film260. Therefore, on the projection 510 and the inclined surface of thegap adjusting section 340 at the side of the second substrate 300, theliquid crystal director 410 is aligned perpendicular to the inclinedsurface of the alignment film 260 which is formed on the surface facingthe liquid crystal with the inclined surface transferred. Therefore, asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, regions having alignment direction (alignmentorientation, azimuth) of liquid crystal different from each other by 180degrees are formed with the projection 510 r as a boundary, theprojection 510 r being at the position to divide the reflective region220 into upper and lower regions.

In the transmissive region 210 having a chevron shape (a shape of a pairof the shaft feather), as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a projection 510 thaving a triangular cross section is formed on the side of the secondsubstrate 300, more specifically, on the common electrode 320 at aposition (a position corresponding to a core of the chevron) dividingthe pixel electrode 200 having a hexagonal shape elongated along thevertical scan direction into equal parts along the vertical scandirection into right and left regions (horizontal scan direction).Although not shown in FIG. 5 similar to FIG. 4, vertical alignment films260 are formed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 on surfaces contacting theliquid crystal on the side of the second substrate 300 and on the sideof the first substrate 100. In the transmissive region 210, thealignment direction (alignment orientation) of the liquid crystaldirector 410 is divided into directions which differ from each other by180 degrees at the projection 510 t formed on the second substrate as aboundary.

In addition, in the present embodiment, in addition to the projectionand inclined surface as described above, an electrode absent section 530is also used as the alignment controller 500. In the illustratedstructure of FIGS. 3-5, a gap portion between a plurality of pixelelectrodes 200 formed on the side of the first substrate 100 is used asan electrode absent section 530 for controlling the alignment. Thealignment division by the electrode absent section 530 takes advantageof a slope of a weak electric field when a voltage starts to be appliedbetween the pixel electrode 200 and the common electrode 320. Under theweak electric field, the electric field lines shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 bya dotted line are tilted in a tilted angle spreading from the end of theelectrode absent section, that is, from the end of the electrode towardthe center of the electrode absent section. Because a minor axis of theliquid crystal having a negative dielectric constant anisotropy isaligned along the tilted electric field line, the direction in which theliquid crystal molecules are tilted from the initial vertically alignedstate as the applied voltage to the liquid crystal increases is definedby the tilted electric field.

The hexagonal pixel electrode 200 shown in FIG. 3 has the electrodeabsent section 530 at the ends of the pixel electrode 200. That is, atleast six sides of electrode absent section 530 are present. Therefore,because of the actions of the projection 510 (510 r and 510 t), theinclined surface 520, and the electrode absent section 530 on theperiphery of the pixel electrode 200, a total of four regions are formedhaving different alignment directions of the liquid crystal director 410within one pixel region, at least two alignment regions in thereflective region 220 and two alignment regions in the transmissiveregion 210 within one pixel region, each having a different alignmentdirection from either of the two regions of the reflective region 220.

More accurately, the liquid crystal director 410 is controlled so thatits planar component (alignment direction) is perpendicular to theextension direction of the projection 510 and the extension direction ofthe edge of the electrode (electrode absent section). Therefore, in anyof the four alignment regions, the alignment direction of the liquidcrystal is not completely identical throughout the region. For example,on the central position of the transmissive region 210 along thevertical scan direction in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal director 410 isaligned in a direction perpendicular to the projection 510 t and theedge of the pixel electrode 200 extending along the vertical scandirection. However, at the boundary of the transmissive region 210, forexample, with the reflective region 220, the inclined surface(projection) 520 by the gap adjusting section 340 and the projection 510t of the transmissive region 210 intersect each other at an angle ofgreater than 90 degrees. Therefore, the alignment direction of theliquid crystal around the intersection changes from a directionperpendicular to the extension direction of the projection 510 to adirection perpendicular to the extension direction of the inclinedsection 520 as the position becomes closer to the inclined section 520by the gap adjusting section 340. However, as will be described later,in one alignment region, the extension direction of the alignmentcontroller 500 is set to minimize a degree of change (or maximum angle)of the alignment direction of the liquid crystal based on the positionso that generation of a boundary (disclination line) of regions havingdifferent alignment directions of liquid crystal at an uncertainposition within one alignment region is prevented.

A relationship between the extension direction of the alignmentcontroller 500 and the alignment direction of the liquid crystal in eachposition within one pixel region according to the present embodimentwill now be described.

An angular difference between the alignment direction of the liquidcrystal controlled by the projection 510 t of the transmissive region210 and the alignment direction of the liquid crystal controlled by theinclined section 520 of the gap adjusting section 340 intersecting theprojection 510 t is less than 90 degrees because the top and bottom ofthe liquid crystal molecule along the major axis direction do not havean optical characteristic difference. In the illustrated structure ofFIG. 3, the intersecting angle between the projection 510 and theprojection 520 by the gap adjusting section 340 is approximately 135degrees whereas the difference in the alignment directions of the liquidcrystal is 45 degrees. In this description, although the projection 510t and the gap adjusting section 340 are described to intersect eachother, in some cases, the projection 510 and the gap adjusting section340 may not physically intersect each other. Therefore, in thisdescription, the term “intersect” refers to intersection of extendedlines of two lines, and, when the two structures are provided ondifferent substrates, intersection of projection lines of the extendedlines to the plane of the same substrate.

The angle of intersection of the inclined section 520 by the gapadjusting section 340 and a side of the pixel electrode 200 of thetransmissive region 210 (in reality, the angle of intersection ofprojection lines to the plane of the same substrate because the inclinedsurface 520 and the pixel electrode 200 are not formed on the samesubstrate) is approximately 45 degrees in the illustrated structure ofFIG. 3. An angle between the alignment direction of the liquid crystalcontrolled by the inclined section 520 and the alignment direction ofthe liquid crystal controlled by the edge of the pixel electrode 200 is90 degrees or smaller, and, in this configuration, is less than 45degrees.

The intersection angle on the projection lines to the plane of thesubstrate of the projection 510 t and the edge of the pixel electrode200 near the lower end of the transmissive region 210 is 45 degrees inthis structure and a difference of alignment direction of the liquidcrystal near the intersection is less than 90 degrees and is 45 degreesor smaller in this structure because the top and bottom of the liquidcrystal molecule do not have a characteristic difference, as describedabove.

The transmissive region 210 further has a region in which the sides ofthe pixel electrode 200 intersect each other. In the illustratedstructure of FIG. 3, a side extending along the vertical scan directionand a side extending from a vertex intersecting the projection 510toward the side extending along the vertical scan direction correspondto these sides, and the intersection angle of the sides is greater than90 degrees and 135 degrees in FIG. 3. The difference of the alignmentdirection of liquid crystal at the intersection is less than 90 degreesand is 45 degrees because the top and bottom of the liquid crystalmolecule do not have a characteristic difference.

Similarly, in the reflective region 220, the alignment controllers 500are provided such that a difference in the alignment direction of theliquid crystal is less than 90 degrees in a region in which a projectionline of an alignment controller 500 to the plane of the substrate(including the extended line) and a projection line of another alignmentcontroller 500 to the plane of the substrate (including the extend line)intersect each other. That is, a projection 510 r which divides thereflective region 220 into upper and lower regions having differentalignment directions and the inclined section 520 by the gap adjustingsection 340 which intersects at the end of the pixel electrode 200intersect each other at an angle of less than 90 degrees and the angulardifference of the alignment directions of the liquid crystal in theintersection region is controlled to be 45 degrees or less which is lessthan 90 degrees.

An intersection angle between the projection 510 r and the edge of thepixel electrode 200 in the reflective region 220 (intersection angle ofprojection lines to the plane of the substrate) is also less than 90degrees, and the angular difference between the alignment directions ofthe liquid crystal in the intersection is also controlled to be 45degrees or less which is less than 90 degrees.

As described, the alignment controllers 500 (projection 510, inclinedsection 520, and electrode absent section 530 (in the illustratedstructure of FIG. 3, shape of the pixel electrode 200)) are determinedsuch that a difference between alignment directions of the liquidcrystal controlled by the alignment controllers 500 is less than 90degrees when the projection lines of the alignment controllers 500 tothe plane of the substrate intersect each other. In this manner,generation of a disclination line in an uncertain position within aregion divided by the alignment controller 500 is reliably prevented.

At the position in the reflective region 220 in which the sides of thepixel electrode 200 intersect each other (in FIG. 3, near a vertex atthe uppermost section of the pixel electrode 200 along the vertical scandirection) and the intersection between the inclined sections 520 by thegap adjusting sections 340 (around the bend of the “V” shape), theangles of intersection are both 90 degrees in the illustrated structureof FIG. 3. From the above-described viewpoint, these intersection anglesare preferably less than 90 degrees or greater than 90 degrees, butbecause the area of the reflective region 220 having a rhombus shape issmall compared to the transmissive region, generation of a disclinationline at an uncertain position is prevented.

The liquid crystal in the reflective region 220 is more stronglyaffected by the alignment control by the projection 510 r, inclinedsection 520, and the side of the pixel electrode 200. Therefore, on atilted line of the rhombus-shaped reflective region 220 connecting anintersection of the sides of the electrode 200 in the reflective region220 and the intersection between inclined sections 520 by the gapadjusting sections 340, no physical alignment controller 500 is present.However, the liquid crystal is controlled equally by the nearbyalignment controllers 500, and, the planar component of the liquidcrystal director 410 at this position becomes a direction along thevertical scan direction as shown in FIG. 3, because of influences ofboth continuation with the liquid crystal controlled along a directionperpendicular to the extension direction of the projection 510 r. As theposition becomes closer from this position to the end of the pixelelectrode along the horizontal scan direction, the liquid crystal isaffected by the side (530) of the pixel electrode 200, the extensiondirection of the inclined surface 520 of the gap adjusting section 340,and the projection 510 r and is controlled to face a direction which isslightly shifted from the direction perpendicular to these extensiondirections (by less than 90 degrees, and less than 45 degrees in theillustrated structure of FIG. 3). Therefore, in the reflective region220 also, generation of a disclination line at an uncertain position isprevented.

Next, a structure and a manufacturing method of a pixel electrode 200and a thin film transistor TFT connected to the pixel electrode will bedescribed referring to FIG. 6. In the present embodiment, as describedabove, an active matrix LCD is employed in which each pixel comprises athin film transistor. As shown in FIG. 6, the thin film transistor TFTis formed between the pixel electrode 200 formed on the side of thefirst substrate 100 and the substrate 100. In order to place thetransmissive region 210 and the reflective region 220 within a pixelregion as effectively as possible, in particular, in order to not reducethe aperture ratio in the transmissive region 210, the TFT which istypically formed in a light shielding region even in a transmissive LCDis placed in the reflective region 220 so that the aperture ratio is notaffected even when the thin film transistor TFT is formed.

In the present embodiment, a top gate TFT is employed as the TFT andpolycrystalline silicon (p-Si) obtained by polycrystallizing amorphoussilicon (a-Si) by laser annealing is used as an active layer 20. The TFTis not limited to a top gate TFT with p-Si, and a bottom gate TFT or aTFT in which a-Si is used in the active layer may alternatively be used.Impurities to be doped into the source and drain regions 20 s and 20 dof the active layer 20 of the TFT may be of an n-conductive type or ap-conductive type. In the present embodiment, an n-conductive impuritysuch as phosphorus is doped, and, thus, an n-ch TFT is used.

The active layer 20 of the TFT is covered by an gate insulating film 30and a gate electrode 32 which is made of a refractory metal such as Crand Mo and which also functions as a gate line is formed on the gateinsulating film 30. After the gate electrode 32 is formed, theabove-described impurity is doped into the active layer 20 using thegate electrode 32 as a mask to form the source region 20 s, drain region20 d, and a channel region 20 c which is not doped with the impurity.Then, an interlayer insulating film 34 is formed covering the entiresurface of the TFT 110, contact holes are formed through the interlayerinsulating film 34, and a layer of an electrode material is formed sothat a source electrode 40 is connected to the source region 20 s of thep-Si active layer 20 and a drain electrode 36 is connected to the drainregion 20 d of the p-Si active layer 20 through the contact holes. Inthe present embodiment, the drain electrode 36 also functions as a dataline for supplying a data signal corresponding to the display content tothe TFT 110. The source electrode 40, on the other hand, is connected tothe first electrode 200 which is the pixel electrode as will bedescribed later. As the drain electrode 36 and the source electrode 40,a highly conductive material such as Al is used.

After the source electrode 40 and the drain electrode 36 are formed, aplanarizing insulating film 38 made of a resin material such as anacrylic resin is formed covering the entire surface of the substrate.Then, a contract hole is formed through the planarizing insulating layer38 at a formation region of the source electrode 40, a connection metallayer 42 is formed in the contact hole, and the source electrode 40 andthe metal layer 42 are connected. When Al or the like is used as thesource electrode 40, it is possible to achieve superior ohmic contactbetween the source electrode 40 and the metal layer 42 using a metalmaterial such as Mo as the metal layer 42. The source electrode 40 maybe omitted, and, in this case, the metal layer 42 directly contacts thesilicon active layer 20 of the TFT 110. The metal such as Mo canestablish ohmic contact with such a semiconductor material.

After the connection metal layer is layered and patterned, an Al—Ndalloy for a reflective layer or a reflective material layer such as Alhaving a superior reflective characteristic is layered on the entiresurface of the substrate through evaporation or sputtering. The layeredreflective material layer is etched and removed in a region near thesource region of the TFT (formation region of the metal layer 42) sothat the reflective material layer does not block the contact betweenthe metal layer 42 and the TFT and the pixel electrode 200 to be formedlater than the reflective material layer, and, at the same time, etchedand removed so that the reflective material layer is not present in thetransmissive region and a reflective layer 44 having an outer shape ofrhombus is formed in the reflective region 220 of each pixel as shown inFIG. 3. In the present embodiment, in order to prevent generation of aleak current by irradiation of light to the TFT (in particular, thechannel region 20 c) and to widen the region which can reflect (that is,the display region) as much as possible, the reflective layer 44 isintentionally formed also above the channel region of the TFT 110 asshown in FIG. 1.

In the patterning of the reflective layer 44 as described, the metallayer 42 made of Mo or the like has a sufficient thickness (for example,0.2 μm) and has a sufficient endurance to the etching solution.Therefore, even after the reflective layer 44 on the metal layer 42 isremoved through etching, the metal layer 42 is not completely removedand remains in the contact hole. Because the source electrode 40 or thelike is formed by a material similar to the reflective layer 44 (Al orthe like), if the metal layer 42 is not present, the source electrode 40would be corroded by the etching solution of the reflective layer 44,resulting in disconnection or the like. By providing a metal layer 42 asin the present embodiment, it is possible to endure the patterningprocess of the reflective layer 44 and to maintain superior electricalconnection between the metal layer 42 and the source electrode 40.

After the reflective layer 44 is patterned, a transparent conductivelayer is layered covering the entire surface of the substrate includingthe reflective layer 44 through sputtering. In this process, the surfaceof the reflective layer 44 made of Al or the like as described iscovered by a natural oxide film which is insulating, but the surface ofthe refractory metal such as Mo is not oxidized even when the refractorymetal is exposed to the sputtering atmosphere. Therefore, the metallayer 42 exposed in the contact region can form an ohmic contact withthe transparent conductive layer for the pixel electrode layered on themetal layer 42. After the transparent conductive layer is formed, thetransparent conductive layer is patterned into a shape independent foreach pixel, common to the reflective region and transmissive regionwithin a pixel region, and into an elongated hexagonal shape, forexample, as shown in FIG. 3, to obtain a pixel electrode 200. After thepixel electrode 200 is formed through patterning, an alignment film 260made of polyimide or the like is formed covering the entire surface ofthe substrate and the first substrate side is completed. Then, as shownin FIGS. 1 and 2, the second substrate 300 on which the red, green, andblue color filter layers, common electrode 320, gap adjusting section340, projection 510 (510 r and 510 t), and alignment film 260 coveringthese structures are formed is adhered with the first substrate 100around the periphery of the substrates with a predetermined spacetherebetween, and the liquid crystal is sealed between the substrates toobtain the LCD.

The common electrode 320 formed on the side of the second substrate 300in the illustrated structure of FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed above the gapadjusting layer 340 and a projection 510 is formed on the commonelectrode 320 at a desired position. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4,the common electrode 320 may be formed below the gap adjusting section340 (more specifically, between the color filter formed on the secondsubstrate 300 and the gap adjusting section 340). When the thickness ofthe gap adjusting section 340 is very large, if the common electrode 320is formed below the gap adjusting section 340 as shown in FIG. 4, theeffective voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer 410 is reduced.However, when a sufficiently large voltage is to be applied between thecommon electrode 320 and the pixel electrode 200 or the thickness of thegap adjusting section 340 is not too large, it is possible to employ theconfiguration as shown in FIG. 4.

Next, an alternative configuration of a structure of each pixel in thetransflective LCD according to the present embodiment will be described.FIG. 7 schematically shows a planar structure of the transflective LCDaccording to the alternative configuration and FIG. 8 is a diagramschematically showing a cross sectional structure along the C-C′ line ofFIG. 7. A schematic cross sectional structure along the D-D′ line ofFIG. 7 is identical to the schematic cross sectional structure shown inFIG. 5.

A difference from the structure shown in FIG. 3 is that the shape of thepixel electrode 240 in FIG. 7 is rectangular and approximate X-shapedprojections 510 t and 510 r are formed as the alignment controllers 500in the transmissive region 210 and the reflective 220, both of which arequadrangular regions, at positions corresponding to the diagonal linesof the quadrangle. With such alignment controllers 500, four regionshaving different alignment directions of liquid crystal are formed inthe transmissive region 210 and the reflective region 220 with theprojections 510 t and 510 r being the boundaries, and, as a consequence,the viewing angle is further widened.

At the boundary of the transmissive region 210 in a pixel region, asdescribed above, an alignment controller 500 realized by the inclinedsection 520 of the gap adjusting section 340 is formed on the side ofthe second substrate 300 and an electrode absent section 530 (slit;window 530 s) extending along the horizontal scan direction along withthe inclined section 520 is provided in the pixel electrode 200.Therefore, in the boundary region between the transmissive region 210and the reflective region 220, the initial alignment of the liquidcrystal is controlled by the inclined surface (inclined section 520) ofthe gap adjusting section 340 at the second substrate side to adirection perpendicular to the inclined surface and is controlled indifferent directions from each other with the boundary at the electrodeabsent section 530 s on the first substrate side due to the tilt of theweak electric field as shown in FIG. 8 in the electrode absent section530 s. Thus, the alignment division of the liquid crystal around theboundary between the transmissive region 210 and the reflective region220 is more reliably realized.

As described, although the structure of FIG. 7 differs from FIG. 3 inthe individual pattern of the alignment controllers 500 including theedge of the pixel electrode 200, the projection 510, and the electrodeabsent section 530 s and in the number of alignment divisions, with theconfiguration of FIG. 7 also, an angular difference between thealignment direction of the liquid crystal controlled by a certainalignment controller 500 and an alignment direction of the liquidcrystal controlled by another alignment controller 500 having aprojection line which intersects the projection line of the alignmentcontroller 500 onto the plane of the substrate is less than 90 degreesat any intersection. Therefore, it is possible to reliably preventgeneration of a disclination line at an uncertain position within any ofthe divided alignment regions. In addition, by employing a pattern ofthe alignment controller 500 as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 7, it ispossible to achieve a maximum number of alignment division and reliablealignment division with a minimum amount of alignment controllers 500formed. In the vertical alignment liquid crystal employed in the presentembodiment, when no voltage is applied, that is, in a vertical alignmentstate, black is displayed. Therefore, in addition to the gap betweenpixel electrodes 200 not contributing to the display, even when asufficient voltage is applied between the common electrode 320 and thepixel electrode 200, the alignment state of the liquid crystal atpositions directly above the other alignment controllers 500 (projection510, inclined section 520, and slit 530 s) does not significantlychange, and the liquid crystal above at these positions does notcontribute to the display. Therefore, placement of redundant alignmentcontrollers 500 would reduce the aperture ratio of the LCD. However, byemploying layouts as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, it is possible to widen theviewing angle and improve the display quality while inhibiting thereduction in the aperture ratio to a minimum degree.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show other alternative configurations of theconfiguration of FIG. 3.

In FIG. 9, the pixel electrode 250 has an overall shape of a chevron.The shape and the structure of the reflective region 220 is identical tothose in FIG. 3. However, the pattern of the remaining transmissiveregion 210 differs from that in FIG. 3 in that the shape is a lateralenveloping shape, a shape of an laterally placed hourglass, or a shapein which M and W are connected to each other along the verticaldirection. The projection line of the projection 510 t onto the planeintersects, at an angle of greater than 90 degrees (in the illustratedstructure, 135 degrees), two sides of the pixel electrode 250 in thetransmissive region 210 having the projection lines to the planeintersecting each other. Because the top and the bottom of the liquidcrystal molecules do not have an optical characteristic difference alongthe major axis direction as described above, the angle differencebetween alignment directions of the liquid crystal in the intersectionregion is again less than 90 degrees. In addition, an intersection anglebetween two lower sides of the pixel electrode 250 extending from theintersection position with the projection 510 t toward the lower end oftwo sides of the pixel electrode 250 extending along the vertical scandirection and the side of the pixel electrode 250 along the verticalscan direction is less than 90 degrees, and the maximum difference inthe alignment directions of the liquid crystal in this region is alsoless than 90 degrees (in the illustrated structure of FIG. 9, less than45 degrees). Therefore, in two alignment regions within the transmissiveregion 210 also, generation of a disclination line at an uncertainposition is prevented.

In FIG. 10, the pixel electrode 252 has a chevron shape. The shape(chevron shape) and structure of the transmissive region 210 areidentical to those in FIG. 3. The shape of the remaining reflectiveregion 220 of the pixel electrode 252 having a chevron shape and theformation position of the projection 510 r which divides the alignmentof the liquid crystal within the reflective region 220 differ from thosein FIG. 3. More specifically, in the illustrated structure of FIG. 10,the reflective region 220 also has a chevron shape with a short heightand, at the boundary between the reflective region 220 and thetransmissive region 210, the alignment is divided by a V-shaped inclinedsection 520 of the gap adjusting section 340. A projection 510 r isformed on the side of the second substrate (above the gap adjustingsection) on a line along the vertical scan direction and connecting thevertex of the V-shape of the inclined section 520 and a vertex of asimilar V-shape of the pixel electrode 252 in the reflective region 220.Two alignment regions are formed in the reflective region 220 on leftand right of the projection 510 r along the horizontal scan directionwith the projection 510 r being the boundary. With such a structurealso, an angular difference between an alignment direction of the liquidcrystal controlled by an alignment controller 500 and an alignmentdirection of the liquid crystal controlled by another alignmentcontroller 500 having a projection line intersecting a projection lineof the alignment controller 500 onto the plane of the substratesatisfies the condition of being less than 90 degrees, and thus, asuperior alignment division is realized.

Next, a drive voltage, transmittance, and wavelength dependencies of thedrive voltage and transmittance in the vertical alignment transflectiveLCD according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 11 shows a relationship between an applied voltage (V) andtransmittance (arbitrary unit) in liquid crystal, and shows an opticalcharacteristic of the vertical alignment liquid crystal cell, that is,relationship between the applied voltage and the transmittance when thecell structure is changed, represented by an expression (del−n)d/wl(expression (i)).

In FIG. 11, wl is set to 550 nm (green). In the expression (i), the term(del-n) represents a birefringence (that is, refractive indexanisotropy) (Δn) of the liquid crystal layer, d represents a thickness(cell gap) of the liquid crystal layer, and wl represents a wavelengthof the incident light. In a small LCD or the like which is equipped in aportable device such as a portable phone, a further reduction in thepower consumption and further reduction in the drive voltage aredesired. As can be understood from FIG. 11, in a cell having a value of,for example, 1.0 for the above-described expression (i), the appliedvoltage may be approximately 3 V for achieving a maximum transmittanceand that when the value of the expression (i) is increased to 1.1 and1.2, for example, the applied voltage can be reduced to less than 3 V.By finely adjusting the value of d, it is possible to drive at asufficiently low voltage even when a same liquid crystal material and asame light source is used. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the value of d canbe adjusted with a thickness of the gap adjusting section 340, colorfilter 330, and planarizing insulating layer 38.

As can be understood by the term of “wl” in expression (i), in the LCDof the present embodiment, the transmittance characteristic has awavelength dependency. As shown in FIG. 12, when the thickness (cellgap) d of the liquid crystal layer is set to a constant for all ofpixels for red, green, and blue, the transmittance characteristic withrespect to the applied voltage differs for light of red (630 nm), green(550 nm), and blue (460 nm). FIG. 13, on the other hand, shows arelationship between the applied voltage and transmittance in an LCD inwhich the value of the cell gap d is adjusted by changing the thicknessfor each of red, green, and blue by changing, for example, the thicknessof the color filters 330 r, 330 g, and 330 b (alternatively, the cellgap may be adjusted by adjusting the thickness of the gap adjustingsection 340). As can be understood from FIG. 13, by setting the cell gapd to a desired value for each of red, green, and blue, it is possible toset the transmittance characteristic with respect to the applied voltageto the same characteristic in each pixel corresponding to light of red,green, and blue. Therefore, it is clear that, by employing such astructure, it is possible to drive the LCD by an applied voltage of lessthan 3 V as shown in FIG. 11 and drive red, green, and blue pixels bydisplay signals having the same amplitude.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show an applied voltage dependency of chromaticity (X-Ycoordinates of CIE). FIG. 14 shows a change in the chromaticity when thevoltage to be applied to the liquid crystal is changed from 1.5 V to 2.0V, 2.3 V, 2.6 V, and 3.0 V in an LCD with a same cell gap in red, green,and blue as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 15 shows a change in the chromaticitywhen the voltage to be applied is changed from 1.5 V to 2.0 V, 2.3 V,2.6 V, and 3.0 V in an LCD having the cell gap adjusted for red, green,and blue so that there is no color dependency of the transmittancechange with respect to the applied voltage. As can be understood from acomparison of FIGS. 14 and 15, by adjusting the cell gap in red, green,and blue, it is possible to improve the applied voltage dependency ofthe chromaticity, that is, the shift in chromaticity when the appliedvoltage is changed, and thus, to realize an LCD having a small colorshift even when the LCD is driven by a voltage in various voltageranges.

Second Preferred Embodiment

A second preferred embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed which is a configuration for improving a display quality incolor display. In the below description, color display on a verticalalignment liquid crystal display device is exemplified.

A vertical alignment liquid crystal display device has a wide viewingangle characteristic and a high contrast characteristic, and has anadvantage that no rubbing process of the alignment film is necessary.

In the vertical alignment liquid crystal display device, because theliquid crystal has a negative dielectric constant anisotropy, the liquidcrystal molecules forming the liquid crystal has a characteristic thatthe liquid crystal tends to be directed in a direction perpendicular tothe direction of the electric field. In such a liquid crystal displaydevice, a vertical alignment film is employed as the alignment film forcontrolling the initial alignment of the liquid crystal and an organicmaterial or the like such as, for example, polyimide and polyamide isused as the material of the vertical alignment film. In a verticalalignment liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal moleculesare controlled, by the vertical alignment film, to be directed along adirection of normal of the substrate on which the vertical alignmentfilm is formed when no electric field is applied to the liquid crystal.When a voltage is applied between a pixel electrode and a commonelectrode to generate an electric field along the direction of normal ofthe substrate, the liquid crystal molecules in a region sandwiched bythe electric fields is tilted to a direction perpendicular to theelectric field.

With this process, the phase of the incident light transmitting throughthe liquid crystal changes. The phase change of the incident lighttransmitting through the liquid crystal can be represented as Δnd/λ whena distance (gap) between the substrates sandwiching the liquid crystalis d, the dispersion of index of refraction is Δn, and the wavelength oflight is λ. By allowing the light transmitted through the liquid crystalto transmit through a polarizer plate provided on the substrate, thetransmittance of the incident light changes and a desired liquid crystaldisplay is achieved. In this case, for example, the polarizer plate isset so that a black display is achieved when no voltage is applied andthe transmittance of incident light is maximized at a certain constantvoltage (white voltage Vwhite) when a voltage is applied.

Recently, as vertical alignment liquid crystal display devices,full-color vertical alignment liquid crystal display devices havingpixels of three primary colors of red, green, and blue are developed.

In a full-color vertical alignment liquid crystal display device,however, the wavelength λ of the light transmitted through the colorfilters of different colors for pixels of the three primary colors ofred, green, and blue differ among pixels, and, thus, the transmittanceis not maximized with a constant voltage. In other words, as shown inFIG. 17C, the V-T characteristic (characteristic curve of appliedvoltage to the liquid crystal versus the transmittance) differs amongthe pixels for red, green, and blue. The transmittance Tin the V-Tcharacteristic increases as the applied voltage V to the liquid crystalincreases and decreases after reaching a maximum. Normally, the whitevoltage Vwhite is set as the applied voltage V to the liquid crystalbased on B (blue) in which the transmittance T reaches a maximum valueat the lowest voltage among red, green, and blue.

When the white voltage Vwhite is applied, in the G (green) and R (red)pixels, the transmittance does not reach 100%, resulting in a problem inthat color of white is viewed as a bluish color. Although it is possibleto improve the problem of coloring by increasing the applied voltage tothe liquid crystal (drive voltage) of the red pixel, with such aconfiguration, a new problem arises in that the power consumption of theliquid crystal display device increases.

FIG. 16 is a cross sectional diagram of a vertical alignment liquidcrystal display device according to a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The components identical to those in the firstpreferred embodiment (in particular, FIG. 1) are basically assigned thesame reference numerals and will not be described again. Although thesecond preferred embodiment is described exemplifying a transflectiveLCD in which a transmissive region and a reflective region are providedwithin each of pixels assigned for display of three primary colors ofred, green, and blue so that the display can be seen in a brightenvironment and in a dark environment, similar to the first preferredembodiment, the present embodiment is not limited to a transflective LCDand may be applied to a transmissive LCD and a reflective LCD havingpixels of three primary colors of red, green, and blue.

A liquid crystal driving TFT 20 is formed in each pixel of three primarycolors of red, green, and blue on a first glass substrate 100. Aninterlayer insulating film 34 (and more preferably, a planarizinginsulating layer above the interlayer insulating film 34) is formedcovering the liquid crystal driving TFTs 20 and a pixel electrode 200 isformed above the interlayer insulating film 34 in each pixel region. Thepixel electrode 200 is formed by a transparent electrode 210 made of ITOin the transmissive region and is formed by a reflective electrode 220made of a material having a superior reflection characteristic such asaluminum in the reflective region.

In a blue pixel, the reflective electrode 220(b) is connected to asource or a drain of the liquid crystal driving TFT 20 via a contacthole formed through the interlayer insulating film 34 and the reflectiveelectrode 220 is in contact with and electrically connected to thetransparent electrode 210. Similarly, in the green pixel and red pixel,the reflective electrode 220 is connected to a source or a drain of theliquid crystal driving TFT 20 via a contact hole formed through theinterlayer insulating film 34 and the reflective electrode 220 is incontact with and electrically connected to the transparent electrode210. When it is difficult to achieve a direct contact between thereflective electrode 220 and the transparent electrode 210, it ispreferable to insulate the reflective electrode 220 from the TFT 20,form a transparent electrode 210 made of a transparent conductive metaloxide over the entire pixel region directly covering the reflectiveelectrode 220, and connect the transparent electrode 210 to the TFT 20via a contact hole, as is described with reference to FIG. 6.

A first vertical alignment film 262 made of an organic material such as,for example, polyimide and polyamide is formed covering the transparentelectrode 210 and the reflective electrode 220 in each pixel.

A second glass substrate 300 is placed opposing and in parallel to thefirst glass substrate 100. On a surface, of the second glass substrate300, opposing the first glass substrate 100, a blue color filter layer332 b which allows light of blue color to transmit, a green color filterlayer 332 g which allows light of green color to transmit, and a redcolor filter layer 332 r which allows light of red color to transmit areformed corresponding to the pixels of three primary colors of red,green, and blue, for filtering light which is incident on the liquidcrystal layer 400 from a light source provided on the side of the secondsubstrate 300 or on the side of the first substrate 100 as shown in FIG.1 or from a light source made of ambient light on the side of the secondsubstrate 300 and transmitting toward the second glass substrate 300.

In each reflective region of each pixel, a projection 340 b made of aphotosensitive resin is formed on the blue color filter layer 332 b in aregion corresponding to the reflective region, a projection 340 g madeof a photosensitive resin is formed on the green color filter layer 332g in a region corresponding to the reflective region, and a projection340 r made of a photosensitive resin is formed on the red color filterlayer 332 r in a region corresponding to the reflective region. Theprojections 340 (340 b, 340 g, and 340 r) are gap adjusting layers (gapadjusting projections) for adjusting the cell gap to desired values inthe reflective region and the transmissive region as described in thefirst preferred embodiment. By selectively providing the gap adjustinglayer 340 in the reflective region, the opposing distance (gap) betweenthe first glass substrate 100 and the second glass substrate 300 is setto be smaller in the reflective region than that in the transmissiveregion, to achieve a superior reflective characteristic (displaycharacteristic in the reflective region). In the illustrated structure,the thickness of the projections 340 is identical in the red, green, andblue pixels.

A transparent common electrode 320 made of ITO is formed covering theblue color filter layer 332 b, green color filter layer 332 g, and redcolor filter layer 332 r on each of which a projection 340 is formed anda second vertical alignment film 264 made of an organic material suchas, for example, polyimide and polyamide is formed covering the commonelectrode 320. Liquid crystal 400 having a negative dielectric constantanisotropy is sealed in a space between the first glass substrate 100and the second glass substrate 300.

A quarter wavelength (λ/4) plate 111 and a polarizer plate 112 areattached to the backside (side from which light is emitted) of the firstglass substrate 100 as a phase difference plate. Similarly, a quarterwavelength (λ/4) plate 111 and a polarizer plate 112 are attached to thebackside (side from which light is emitted) of the second glasssubstrate 300 as a phase difference plate. With this structure,depending on the voltage setting on the pixel electrode and the commonelectrode 214, when no voltage is applied to the liquid crystal 400, theincident light to the liquid crystal layer 400 is not emitted to theoutside from the side of the second glass substrate 300 and blackdisplay is achieved, and, when a voltage is applied to the liquidcrystal layer 400, the transmittance of the light emitted from the sideof the second substrate 300 to the outside, that is, the transmittancefor the liquid crystal layer, increases based on the applied voltage.

A characteristic in the second preferred embodiment can be found in thethicknesses of the color filter layers 332 b, 332 g, and 332 r for blue,green, and red. When the thickness of the blue color filter layer 332 bis D-blue, the thickness of the green color filter layer 332 g isD-green, and the thickness of the red color filter layer 332 r is D-red,the thicknesses satisfy a condition of D-blue≧D-green>D-red. The gap(thickness of liquid crystal sandwiched by the substrate) in thetransmissive region of pixels for red, green, and blue satisfies arelationship opposite to that of the thicknesses of the color filterlayers. That is, when the gap in the transmissive region of blue pixelis G-blue(T), the gap in the transmissive region of green pixel isG-green(T), and the gap in the transmissive region of red pixel isG-red(T), the gaps satisfy a condition of G-red(T)>G-green(T)≧G-blue(T).In this manner, by setting the thicknesses of the blue color filterlayer 332 b, green color filter layer 332 g, and red color filter layer332 r to differ from each other to achieve different gaps (also referredto as “cell gap”) among the pixels, it is possible to achieve uniformV-T characteristic for pixels for red, green, and blue.

Next, the V-T characteristic of pixels for red, green, and blue will bedescribed based on an experimental result shown in FIGS. 17A-17C. InFIGS. 17A-17C, the horizontal axis represents voltage to be applied tothe liquid crystal 400 and the vertical axis represents transmittance ofincident light.

When D-blue=D-green=D-red (when the thickness of all color filter layersis identical) as shown in FIG. 17C, the V-T characteristic significantlydiffer among red, green, and blue. When the thicknesses are set tosatisfy the condition of D-blue>D-green>D-red as shown in FIG. 17A, theV-T characteristics of blue and red pixels become closer to the V-Tcharacteristic of the green pixel. When the gap of red, green, and blueare set to G-red(T)=4.8 μm, G-green(T)=4.0 μm, and G-blue (T)=3.3 μmthrough setting of the thicknesses of the blue color filter layer 332 b,green color filter layer 332 g, and red color filter layer 332 r, theV-T characteristic can be set almost identical for red, green, and blue.With this configuration, it is possible to select a suitable whitevoltage Vwhite (for example, a voltage V in which the transmittance ismaximized) to realize display driven by a low voltage and having nocoloring

When the thicknesses are set to achieve a condition ofD-blue=D-green>D-red as shown in FIG. 17B, the V-T characteristics ofblue and green pixels are identical to those in FIG. 17C, but the V-Tcharacteristic of the red pixel becomes closer to the V-T characteristicof the green pixel. With this configuration, a high transmittance can beobtained in the red pixel at a lower voltage V compared to the V-Tcharacteristic of FIG. 17C, and thus, the problem of coloring can beimproved accordingly.

In the reflective region, gap adjusting layers (projections) 340 r, 340g, and 340 b are provided for the pixels for red, green, and blue, butthe color filter layers 332 b, 332 g, and 332 r for blue, green, and redare present both in the transmissive region and the reflective region.Therefore, by setting the thicknesses of the color filter layers 332 b,332 g, and 332 r as described above, the relationship in the sizes ofthe gaps in the reflective regions becomes similar to that in thetransmissive region. In other words, when the gap of blue pixel in thereflective region is G-blue(R), the gap of green pixel in the reflectiveregion is G-green(R), the gap of red pixel in the reflective region isG-red(R), and the heights of the projections 340 b, 340 g, and 340 r areidentical to each other, a relationship of G-red(R)>G-green(R)G-blue≧(R) is satisfied. Therefore, in the second preferred embodiment,the V-R characteristic (characteristic of applied voltage to the liquidcrystal versus reflectance) of pixels for red, green, and blue becomesmore uniform, and therefore, similar to the above, a display driven by alow voltage and having no coloring can be obtained.

A method of forming the color filters 332 r, 332 g, and 332 b for red,green, and blue will now be described. Each color filter layer can beformed basically by spin coating a photosensitive resin including apigment of the color on the second glass substrate 300 and applyingexposure and development processes to pattern so that the resin remainsin a predetermined region. However, in the second preferred embodiment,because the thicknesses of the color filter layers are not identical,when a thick color filter layer, for example, the blue color filterlayer 332 b is formed first, projections and depressions on the surfaceof the second glass substrate 300 becomes large, making it difficult toform the other color filter layers, for example, the red color filterlayer 332 r.

In consideration of this, it is preferable that the red color filterlayer 332 r which is thin is formed first, the green color filter layer332 g is formed next, and the blue color filter layer 332 b is formedlast, in order to facilitate manufacturing steps. When the thickness ofthe blue color filter 332 b and the green color filter layer 332 g areidentical, the two color filter layers having the same thickness can beformed in any order.

Third Preferred Embodiment

A third preferred embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed referring to the drawings. FIG. 18 is a diagram schematicallyshowing a cross sectional structure of a vertical alignment liquidcrystal display device according to the third preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. The components identical to those in the secondpreferred embodiment are assigned the same reference numerals and willnot described again.

In the third preferred embodiment, in order to achieve different optimumthicknesses of gap G in the red, green, and blue pixels, in addition tothe red, green, and blue color filter layers 330 r, 330 g, and 330 bformed on the side of the second glass substrate 300 and the projections340 (340 r, 340 g, and 340 b) for adjusting the gap difference betweenthe transmissive region and the reflective region, an adjusting layer(gap layer) 350 for adjusting the gap difference for red, green, andblue is provided. More specifically, in the blue and green pixel regionswhich require smaller cell gaps G than the cell gap G in the red pixelregion, photosensitive resin layers 350 b and 350 g are selectivelyformed on the blue color filter layer 330 b and the green color filterlayer 330 g, respectively, as the adjusting layer 350. In thisdescription, the thickness of the photosensitive resin layer 350 b onthe blue color filter layer 330 b is assumed to be t1 and the thicknessof the photosensitive resin layer 350 g on the green color filter layer330 g is assumed to be t2. The values of t1 and t2 are set so thatt1≧t2. When a gap (thickness of the liquid crystal sandwiched betweensubstrates) in the transmissive region of the blue pixel is G-blue (T),the gap in the transmissive region of the green pixel is G-green(T), andthe gap in the transmissive region of the red pixel is G-red(T), thesegaps satisfy a condition of G-red(T)>G-green(T)≧G-blue (T).

In the third preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, when thethicknesses of the color filter layers 330 r, 330 g, and 330 b are setto an identical thickness and the thicknesses of the projections 340 r,340 g, and 340 b are also set to an identical thickness, if t1=t2, thecell gaps satisfy a condition of G-green=G-blue.

In this manner, by selectively forming the photosensitive resin layer350 at a necessary color region to achieve different optimum gaps (alsoreferred to as “cell gap”) in the pixels for red, green, and blue, it ispossible to achieve a more uniform V-T characteristic for pixels forred, green, and blue.

Next, a V-T characteristic of red, green, and blue pixels will bedescribed referring to an experimental result of FIGS. 19A-19C. In FIGS.19A-19C, the horizontal axis represents voltage to be applied to theliquid crystal 400 and the vertical axis represents transmittance ofincident light.

First, when G-red (T)=G-green (T)=G-blue (T) as shown in FIG. 19C (whenthe photosensitive resin layers 350 g and 350 b are not provided), theV-T characteristic significantly differs among red, green, and blue.When, on the other hand, a condition of G-red(T)>G-green(T)>G-blue (T)is satisfied as shown in FIG. 19A, the V-T characteristics of blue andred pixels become closer to the V-T characteristic of the green pixel(the characteristics for red, green, and blue without the correction aredescribed in parentheses in FIG. 19A). More specifically, when the gapsfor red, green, and blue are set to G-red=4.8 μm, G-green=4.0 μm, andG-blue=3.3 μm, the V-T characteristics of red, green, and blue can beset almost identical to each other. With this configuration, byselecting a suitable white voltage Vwhite (for example, a voltage V inwhich the transmittance is maximized), it is possible to obtain displaydriven by a low voltage and having no coloring.

When G-red(T)>G-green (T)=G-blue (T) as shown in FIG. 19B, the V-Tcharacteristics of blue and green pixels are identical to those in FIG.190, but the V-T characteristic of the red pixel becomes closer to theV-T characteristic of the green pixel. With this structure, compared tothe V-T characteristic of FIG. 19C, it is possible to obtain a hightransmittance at a lower voltage V for the red pixel, and thus, toimprove the problem of coloring.

In the reflective region, projections 340 are formed for each of thered, green, and blue pixels. However, because the thicknesses of theprojections 340 are set to an identical value for red, green, and blue,the relationship among the gaps in the reflective region is similar tothat in the transmissive region. That is, when the gap in the reflectiveregion of the blue pixel is G-blue(R), the gap in the reflective regionof the green pixel is G-green(R), and the gap in the reflective regionof the red pixel is G-red(R), the gaps satisfy a condition ofG-red(R)>G-green(R)≧G-blue (R). Therefore, with the third preferredembodiment also, the V-R characteristic (characteristic of appliedvoltage to the liquid crystal versus reflectance) in red, green, andblue pixels can be more uniform, and, thus, it is possible to obtain adisplay driven by a low voltage and having no coloring.

1. A liquid crystal display device comprising: a plurality of pixels;and vertical alignment liquid crystal which is sealed between a firstsubstrate having a pixel electrode and a second substrate having acommon electrode, wherein each of the pixels has a shape in which acolumn direction is longer than a row direction; each of the pixels isdivided into a first pixel region and a second pixel region havingdifferent areas by a boundary extending in the row direction and bent ina V shape; the first pixel region is formed such that an end portionthereof defined by a vertex of the boundary which is bent in a V shapecuts into the second pixel region; and in the first pixel region, theliquid crystals are aligned toward a first center line in the firstpixel region, and in the second pixel region, the liquid crystals arealigned toward a second center line in the second pixel region.
 2. Theliquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the vertexof the boundary is located on an extension line of the second centerline.
 3. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, whereinthe first center line and the second center line are orthogonal to eachother.
 4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 3,wherein a preferential viewing angle of the first pixel region isdifferent from a preferential viewing angle of the second pixel region.5. A liquid crystal display device comprising; a plurality of pixels;and vertical alignment liquid crystal which is sealed between a firstsubstrate having pixel electrode and a second substrate having a commonelectrode, wherein each of the pixels has a shape in which a columndirection is longer than a row direction; each of the pixels is dividedinto a first pixel region and a second pixel region having differentareas by a boundary extending in the row direction and bent in a Vshape; the first pixel region is formed such that an end portion thereofdefined by a vertex of the boundary which is bent in a V shape cuts intothe second pixel region; in the first pixel region, liquid crystalmolecules are aligned such that the first pixel region is divided into aplurality of regions defined by a first linear shaped line located at acenter of the first pixel region; and in the second pixel region, liquidcrystal molecules are aligned such that the second pixel region isdivided into a plurality of regions defined by a second linear shapedline located at a center of the second pixel region.
 6. A liquid crystaldisplay device according to claim 5, wherein the vertex of the boundaryis located on an extension line of the second linear shaped line.
 7. Theliquid crystal display device according to claim 6, wherein the firstlinear shaped line and the second linear shaped line are orthogonal toeach other.
 8. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 7,wherein a preferential viewing angle of the first pixel region isdifferent from a preferential viewing angle of the second pixel region.9. A liquid crystal display device comprising: a plurality of pixels;and vertical alignment liquid crystal which is sealed between a firstsubstrate having a pixel electrode and a second substrate having acommon electrode, wherein each of the pixels has a shape in which acolumn direction is longer than a row direction; each of the pixels isdivided into a first pixel region and a second pixel region havingdifferent areas by a boundary extending in the row direction and bent ina V shape; the first pixel region is formed such that an end portionthereof defined by a vertex of the boundary which is bent in a V shapecuts into the second pixel region; in the first pixel region, liquidcrystal molecules are aligned such that the first pixel region isdivided into four regions defined at least by a first linear shaped linelocated at a center of the first pixel region; and in the second pixelregion, liquid crystal molecules are aligned such that the second pixelregion is divided into four regions defined at least by a second linearshaped line located at a center of the second pixel region.
 10. Theliquid crystal display device according to claim 9, wherein the vertexof the boundary is located on an extension line of the second linearshaped line.
 11. The liquid crystal display device according to claim10, wherein the first linear shaped line and the second linear shapedline are orthogonal to each other.
 12. The liquid crystal display deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein a preferential viewing angle of the firstpixel region is different from a preferential viewing angle of thesecond pixel region.